Microsoft's Missed Opportunity

So, my buddy asked me today if I had downloaded any of the Xbox Originals from Live Marketplace, to which I quickly retorted, “Hell no.”

And why should I?

For starters, I already own all of these games, and if I didn’t, I could go pick them up used at Gamestop for a fraction of the cash I’d drop on the Marketplace versions.

But the real reason I refuse is simple: There are no Achievements.

And to make matters worse, the reasoning behind why Microsoft decided to stiff 360 owners out of some tasty gamerscore-boosting is W-E-A-K.

Major Nelson puts it this way in this blog:

Specifically, folks want to know if these games will have additional functionality like Achievements and Gamerscore. The answer is no. “These are the original games that were created before Xbox 360. In order to preserve the integrity of the original gaming experience they provide, they will have the features available at the time of their initial release.” I hope that clears that up.

WTF? In layman’s terms, what Microsoft is saying is: “We’re too ’effin lazy to do something that we know our community would love. Instead we’re going to claim that we want to preserve integrity or something and hope you all buy it anyway.”

Seriously, what about Marathon: Durandal? Microsoft released the Live Arcade port when it still owned Bungie. Has the integrity of Bungie’s groundbreaking (and nausea-inducing) shooter been tainted? And are you suggesting that the integrity of games like Dig-Dug, Galaga, Pac-Man, Golden Axe, and every other retro game that you sell on Marketplace has been forever smeared because those publishers gave in and included Achievements — a feature you dreamt up?

Microsoft, you seriously need to have your head examined on this one.

How could it possibly change the integrity of Fable if you get an Achievement for stuff like letting Twinblade live (it could be called Merciful), or in Halo for detonating the fusion reactors in the Pillar (Lord of the Ring) and making it onto the Longsword (Escapist)?

The crazy thing that Microsoft isn’t seeing is the potential income they could generate from this. I guarantee if they spent some time coming up with interesting Achievements for their Xbox Originals, they would sell like Halo 3–cakes (that’s Master Chief–shaped pancakes).

For that matter, if publishers were to go back and attach Achievements to games like Halo 2, Knights of the Old Republic, Ninja Gaiden Black, and Riddick: EFBB (after making it backward-compatible, of course) and label them “360 Special Editions,” they would see a windfall of earnings with minimal work. Publishers could also include the prerequisite Behind the Scenes schlock, but the real draw would be the Achievements. Think about the time it would take a dev team to add 500 to 1,000 points of Achievements to an already-in-the-can game compared to the investment in developing an entirely new IP. I’m telling you, people would buy them. Maybe not everyone, but these re-releases would sell.

What do you think? Do you care about Achievements for DLC Xbox Original games? Would you be more inclined to buy them if they had Achievements? Would you rebuy and replay some other classic original-Xbox games for the ability to unlock Achievements?

Sound off, people!